Computer glitch delayed National Weather Service warnings before Winterset tornado

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Des Moines Register: A government computer system got bogged down during Saturday’s deadly Central Iowa tornado outbreak, slowing the flow of meteorologists’ warnings by several minutes. National Weather Service spokesperson Susan Buchanan said in a statement that the agency’s systems slowed down because of an unrelated technical problem at a Texas office. The issue overloaded the agency’s network, causing a delay in the flow of messages in the minutes before the largest and deadliest of the tornadoes ripped through Winterset, leaving six dead. Buchanan said the longest delay occurred at 4:11 p.m. Saturday, when a warning from the agency, telling residents to take cover, did not go through until 4:18 p.m.